Myrkron (Volume Two of The Chronicles of the Myrkron)

by Woods, Timothy

  Mathis’ thoughts were brought abruptly back to the classroom by the thud of the book hitting the desk. Miles was making progress, it just seemed agonizingly slow to Mathis. “Very good, Miles, you are getting better. Just last week you couldn’t have held that book up for half as long. Keep practicing.”

  Miles beamed a smile at Mathis. “Yes, Master Mathis.”

  Everyone turned at the sound of footsteps and instantly got very quiet as they saw who it was.

  Merric walked into the classroom. “Good morning, students. I trust everyone is well this morning.”

  They all replied in unison. “Good morning Headmaster Merric.”

  “Sorcerer Martin, would you please take over for Master Mathis? I have need of his assistance,” Merric stated.

  “Of course, Headmaster.”

  Mathis followed Merric from the classroom as Martin took his place. They heard Martin address Misha before the voices grew too distant to discern.

  “What is it Merric? You look awful.”

  Merric chuckled sharply. “Thanks. I have been up all night conversing with Prince Rein and searching the archives for anything we can use against the Garoliths. As if Mortow’s very numbers were not enough, those creatures are what we must concentrate on. If we cannot deal with them, then it will not matter if we can defeat all of Mortow’s other troops or not,” Merric said tiredly.

  “Have you found anything?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Every reference to them says that if you have not opened the ninth door, you had best not be in the same place as them. On a more positive note, the High Caste has decided to join with us. Prince Rein says they should be here in a day or so.”

  “That is good news. The High Caste, though not so strong in numbers as their more primal brethren, are a lot more intelligent. And we can use all the help we can get.”

  Merric had held nothing back from Mathis. He relayed everything he learned about Mortow and his army from his scrying, including the fact that Mortow was a Ninth Key. Mathis had taken that last fact with trepidation. Merric himself was worried about that as well. If Mortow had been lying all these years about how many doors he could see, then Merric had no way to accurately gauge how powerful Mortow truly was. For that matter, he was uncertain of the power of all the wizards under Mortow. They could have all been deceptive in how many doors they could truly see.

  “What is it you need me to do?” Mathis asked enthusiastically. He was glad of anything that would get him out of the classroom.

  “I would like for you to continue my search in the archives. I left my notes there so you can pick up where I left off.”

  “What will you be doing?”

  “I have to go back to the scrying chamber and check on Mortow’s progress, then I need to go to see King Brose. He must be apprised of what we're up against, but first, I need a couple hours sleep. When the words on the page begin to dance; of finding what you seek, you have no chance,” Merric quoted an adage one of his masters had been fond of saying.

  “Good advice. You should follow it more often,” Mathis said with concern.

  “We only have a few days until Mortow’s army reaches The Slot. When that happens, we will be needed. Time runs short; and, sleep becomes a luxury I can ill afford.”

  “You will be of no use if you are not rested, Merric.”

  Merric ignored Mathis’ comment. “I would also like for you to keep an eye on Mael.”

  Mathis stopped in his tracks. “Mael? Has he been taken prisoner?”

  Merric stopped and turned to face Mathis. “I am afraid not. It seems Mael has been in the employ of Lord Micah. Last night, he delivered Lord Micah’s nephew and Prince Rein to the elven camp. He has been spying on Mortow all this time for the Avari Lord.”

  Mathis’ jaw set in a rigid line. “You have allowed him entrance to Kantwell once again.” It was a statement not a question.

  “Aye. Believe me, Mathis, I do not trust him any more than you do. I know as well as you what he has done, but he has knowledge of Mortow’s plans and Lord Micah is correct. If he is here to betray us, we are forewarned, but if he is sincere, then we have another wizard on our side,” Merric explained.

  “Merric, he tried to kill me and damn near succeeded. And you expect me to just forget about that and welcome him back?” Mathis asked incredulously.

  “No. I expect you to keep an eye on him and make sure he does not do anything to compromise us. I assign you this task knowing you will be especially vigilant because of the past. Watch him. Make sure he goes nowhere unsupervised. I have warded certain areas to restrict his access. He is in the archive now, helping to research the Garoliths. I also want you to keep him away from the students. If he is here to betray us, I do not want them put in danger. I have assigned him the room next to yours. It has been warded to prevent him from teleporting out of it and the only other way in or out is the door. Lord Micah has assigned two Avari to watch over him as well. Do nothing to provoke him, Mathis. I know your tongue. He very nearly killed you the last time. We have no way of knowing how much more powerful he has become,” Merric said sternly, thinking of the Hy stone.

  “I am an eighth key now. When last we fought, I was only a seventh. I have grown in power since then,” Mathis stated.

  “So has he. Like his former Master, Mael has hidden the extent of his abilities. Mortow thinks him only a seventh key, as we thought. Last night he revealed to me that he has opened the eighth door and can see the ninth. I believe he told me these things to show we can trust him. Frankly, the fact that he can see the ninth door frightens me beyond all reason. One such as he, a ninth key; I will have nightmares for the rest of my life just thinking about that.”

  Mathis was stunned by the revelation. That Mael had the potential to be a ninth key was as Merric said, frightening. “Then I hope for all our sakes, he is sincere in joining with us. If he were to open the ninth door, and to stand with Mortow, we would stand no chance of winning this war.”

  “We still have Michael. He is a ninth key and he is probably the only chance we have against the Garoliths right now, so all hope is not yet lost.”

  “He is young, Merric, and untrained,” Mathis stated.

  “He is powerful. More powerful than anyone else we have ever read about. Do not count him out simply because of his age.”

  “Power is no substitute for experience.”

  “You would think twice about that statement had you seen what he did in the Slot. The spell he cast was a display of power and finesse. It was worthy of a wizard many years older. The fact that he was able to do what he did under the stresses of such a battle was impressive, not to mention the sheer magnitude of the spell. I could not have accomplished a fraction of what he did and lived to witness the outcome. And that was only the second time he has been in such a situation. The first of which, you will recall, was when he came through the gateway. That time he was practically paralyzed with fear. At the Slot, he was determined and concise. He saved a lot of lives, Mathis. He was a true wizard that day, selfless and direct. He reminds me a lot of one of my old Masters, Meldrin. In the race wars, Meldrin fought the exact same way. He thought nothing of himself when in battle. His only concern was for our allies.”

  “Aye, and see where that got him? He died in that war,” Mathis reminded Merric.

  “Yes, you are correct. But, because of him, many men survived that might not have. He turned many of the battles in our favor, and I personally believe he was the reason we won that war. The men looked up to him for his courage and his compassion. When he was killed, it gave the men something to rally around. The day he fell is also the day we handed the enemy their greatest loss. It was the turning point of the war.”

  “That may well be, but you had many other wizards to help in that war. The loss of one, though tragic, was not crippling. We lose one and a quarter of our number is gone. We can ill afford martyrs in this war, Merric.”

  Merric chuckled faintly and patted Mathis on the shoulder. “
Fear not. I have no intentions of trying to join such distinguished ranks,” Merric assured him.

  “Good. You are needed here. Besides, I am a terrible teacher and I really don’t want Mael teaching our younger generation, nor do I want him to be Headmaster in Kantwell,” Mathis replied with a visible shudder.

  “I really do not think you have to worry about either. Mael is not the type to want such responsibilities. In that, he is much like you. He would rather spend his time with his nose in a book. The only true difference between you two, and it is a defining one, is that you seek the power of knowledge, whereas he seeks knowledge of power. Keep your eyes open. Let the past be and concentrate on what we need to survive the future.”

  Mathis nodded and spoke the words of transport.

  Merric closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly; trying to release some of the fatigue he felt. He opened his eyes again and turned around. If he was to keep up what strength he could he needed to eat. He walked to the dining hall. Entering, he saw Joshua, Michael, Prince Rein, Colonel Bastise, Reek and Branik all sitting at a table, talking quietly. Merric inclined his head in acknowledgement when their attention turned to him, then walked to the serving window.

  Tess’s smiling face greeted him. “Ah, Headmaster, I am glad to see you finally decided to eat something this morning. It is never good to skip breakfast.”

  Merric opened his mouth to say something but Tess interrupted him. “I know, you are a very busy man, but those of our advanced years have to keep up our strength if we are to keep pace with these youngsters. I prepared your favorite this morning. I was going to bring it up to your study if you didn’t come down this morning. Michael informed me that you were in a meeting most of the night,” Tess rambled on, smiling the entire time.

  Merric couldn’t help but smile back. “Advanced years, rubbish. I am old enough to be your father, Tess, yet you manage to make me feel as if I am a first year student again. What would we do without you?”

  “You would probably all starve without me to remind you to take a break to eat,” Tess replied handing him a tray through the window.

  Merric looked over the items on the tray, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and cup of orange juice. He smiled again at Tess. “Thank you, Tess. This is just what I needed.”

  “Of course it is. I wouldn't have fixed it if it wasn’t,” Tess told him with a wink then turned to tend to some dough on the table behind her.

  Merric chuckled and turned around to find Michael, Reek and Branik standing a short distance behind him.

  Seeing that Merric’s conversation with Tess was concluded, Michael walked up to Merric and looked him over. “You look dead on your feet,” Michael commented sympathetically.

  “You are the second person that has told me as much, so it must be true, “Merric said, as he walked toward the nearest table, Michael and the two Avari following him. “I was up all night doing some research into the Garoliths.”

  Michael looked at Merric with a puzzled expression.

  Merric sighed and bowed his head. “I am getting old. I realize now that I have not yet told you of them; since you are the only one among us that can affect them, that was a grave oversight on my part.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Michael said flatly.

  Merric set his tray down on the table and sat down on the bench. Michael walked around the table and sat down across from him. Reek and Branik remained standing, watching over the two wizards.

  “The Garoliths…” Merric began but Michael shook his head.

  “Eat first. Everything is not going to fall apart just because you took five minutes out to eat,” Michael stated.

  Merric snorted and raised an eyebrow at Michael. “You have no way of knowing if that is true or not,” Merric replied, but began to eat.

  Michael waited in silence until Merric finished his meal. When Merric replaced his empty cup on the tray, Michael asked. “Ok, so what is a Garolith, and why am I the only one that can affect it?”

  Merric wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it aside. “The Garoliths are an ancient evil. They were created a very long time ago by some extremely powerful wizards. Wizards that believed as Mortow does; that wizards should rule and that all others are beneath them. These wizards created the Garoliths to combat magic. Instilling in them an immunity to all but the most powerful magics. Only a wizard that has opened the ninth door can stand against them. This is what Mortow has set loose on our world; for only a ninth key could have released them from their prison.”

  “Now that you have succeeded in scaring the hell out of me, what is it that I can do to fight them?”

  “As frightened as you may be now, you have no idea of what their mere physical proximity will do to you. As for fighting them, I have no idea. What material there is on them is vague and foreboding.”

  “Great. What do these creatures look like?” Michael asked.

  “Here, let me show you.” Merric stood and faced the empty space before the serving window. “Phasmatis Garolith,” Merric intoned.

  Michael shuddered as the creature before him turned glowing red eyes on him. The upper body was reminiscent of what he had always envisioned a grim reaper would look like, skeletal, covered in decaying black robes and wielding a large scythe, only the scythe looked to be made entirely of bone. What really shocked him was, from the waist down, the creature had the scaled body of a giant rotting snake.

  They heard a scream from the kitchen and the sudden shattering of crockery hitting the floor. Merric quickly dismissed the illusion and hurried to the kitchen window, Michael and the two Avari followed him. Once at the window, Merric looked through to see Tess lying on the floor amid the remains of a tray of broken mugs.

  The four of them hurried around the corner and Merric knelt beside the prone Tess and raised her head and shoulders up off the floor. Merric placed his right forefinger on Tess’s forehead. Her eyes immediately snapped open. She opened her mouth to scream again, but Merric sent a soothing wave of calm through her mind.

  “I am truly sorry about that Tess. I am so tired I didn’t stop to think that you would see that illusion as well. I was merely giving Michael a quick lesson,” Merric explained as he helped the shaken woman to her feet. “You are not injured are you? You took a nasty fall,” Merric inquired, trying to distance Tess’s thoughts from the terrifying vision.

  Tess wobbled a bit as she stood and felt the back of her head. She grimaced as her finger found a tender knot where her head hit the floor. “I’ll be fine, just bumped my head,” Tess answered, still holding her head with her right hand.

  “Here, let me have a look at that, Tess,” Michael said, as Merric lead her to a chair so she could sit down.

  “I’m alright; just had the sense scared out of me. What was that horrible thing, Merric?”

  “Nothing you need worry about. It was merely an illusion I conjured as a demonstration,” Merric informed Tess in a soothing voice.

  Michael walked around behind Tess and gently parted her hair. There was a goose egg on the back of her head. Remembering what Mason had told him, he cupped his right hand gently over the knot and closed his eyes. “Vigoratus vulnus,” Michael chanted softly. He felt a strong wind blow through his mind. He saw the swelling from the inside and blood leaking slowly from a rupture. The wind blew harder and Michael watched in fascination as the blood flow ceased, the rupture mended, and the swelling rapidly faded. He breathed out a deep sigh of satisfaction. Mason was right. This ability was a weapon against all other weapons. Michael opened his eyes as he heard Tess gasp in surprise.

  Merric was watching him with keen interest, but Tess was staring at him in open wonder, as she tentatively ran her hand along the back of her head.

  “The pain is gone. I can’t feel the lump anymore,” Tess exclaimed.

  Michael smiled down at her and nodded. “Glad I could help.”

  “Michael, how did you do that? You're a wizard. Wizards can’t heal,” Tess ask
ed in astonishment.

  “I am no longer a wizard. I have become something else entirely,” Michael replied, somewhat hesitantly.

  Tess, noticing the strange look on Michael’s face, smiled up at him. “Well, I hope you don't learn to cook or I will be out of a job.”

  “You need not worry about that. I couldn’t boil water with dragon’s fire,” Michael said with a grin.

  Tess saw the broken crockery all over the floor and clucked her tongue. “What a mess I have made. I better get this cleaned up.”

  Michael looked down at the shattered pieces strewn across the floor. He passed his hand in a sweeping gesture over the floor. “Reparo.”

  The pieces began sliding across the floor to gather together before him. They made a clicking sound as they reassembled themselves. In less than a dozen heartbeats, all of the cups were whole once more and lay neatly on the tray. Michael bent down, picked the tray up, and handed it to Tess. “I would not want to be the cause of more work for you. It is bad enough you were injured during one of my lessons,” Michael explained, keeping to Merric’s explanation. He did not want to frighten Tess further with the truth. Michael was scared enough for the both of them.

  “Thank you, Michael,” Tess replied looking at the tray of cups.

  “I think we should move your lessons to a place where we will not disturb anyone else, Michael,” Merric said.

  Michael thought he detected a trace of sadness on Merric’s face, but it was gone quickly as Merric again addressed Tess. “Once again, I apologize,” Merric said with a smile.